A 35-year-old Seattle man arrested as part of a multi-agency heroin sting has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Arrested alongside five others late last year, Bolton told U.S. District Court Judge John C. Coughenour that he intends to change his ways while in prison and kick the heroin addiction that’s plagued his adult life.

Bolton, who was arrested after trying to freelance a drug deal at Northgate Mall while working with the Drug Enforcement Administration, previously pleaded guilty to heroin possession with intent to distribute. The operation in which he was arrested netted 29 pounds of cocaine, 4 pounds of heroin and $95,000.

Addressing the court Wednesday, Bolton apologized to the DEA agent leading the case and pledged to stay sober following his release.

Asking for an 11-year sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisca Borichewski noted that Bolton continued to minimize his drug dealing activity, which included the receipt and distribution of pounds of heroin as well, she said, as steroids, marijuana and other illicit drugs. She described Bolton as a man who “repeatedly chose to return to a life of criminal activity.”

Declining to impose the requested sentence, Coughenour opined that he has seen the “so-called war on drugs” drive a near-constant rise in drug crime sentence lengths in his 29 years on the bench.

“We decided through our representatives to get real tough in this so-called war on drugs,” Coughenour said. “I don’t think we’ve won the war with these harsh sentences.”

Coughenour, a Reagan appointee to the federal bench, noted that Bolton would likely have received a sentence half the length suggested by the government had he been before the court years ago. The judge also noted that such lengthy sentences have driven a 10-fold increase in the federal prison population since he took the bench.

Bolton pleaded guilty on Dec. 18. Two other defendants, Teodoro Santos-Cruz and Cesar Gutama-Loja, have already been sentenced to five-year prison terms. Ringleader Carlos Carrillo-Lopez faces a minimum of 10 years in prison when sentenced later this month.